The invention to which the application relates is a web browser system for use in obtaining and selecting internet web sites via a web browser. The system of the present invention is particularly, although not necessarily exclusively, related to the use of a web browser system as part of a service offered via a broadcast data receiver (BDR).
A BDR is typically connected to or provided as part of a television display screen and is used to receive data from a broadcaster at a remote location via cable, satellite and/or terrestrial broadcast systems. The BDR processes the received data and generates video and audio therefrom, typically to represent television programs, as well as providing other services such as web browser facilities using external communications for display on the television display screen and/or for listening to via speakers.
Web browser services are well known and are known to be provided via broadcast data receivers (BDRs). A difference between personal computer (PC) based and BDR based web browsers is that, due to the reduced definition of the television display screens used to display the web sites with BDR services, the entire screen is typically taken up by a single web site page only and the means of selecting a new Internet web page is typically via a remote control device provided with the television system. Thus, currently, when using a BDR with a web browser, there is no mouse by which a user can control a pointer icon on the television display screen to allow selection of active links on a web page. Instead, television systems typically use a highlighted portion that is moved around the web page using the arrow keys on the remote control, and, by pressing the ‘Select’ button on the remote control device, the user chooses the particular link indicated by the highlight portion. However, problems with the conventional system are that it is clumsy and slow for the user to use and difficult to implement logically.
A conventional means for selecting links on a teletext system of a television includes the provision of colored buttons on the remote control handset which correspond to color coded subject matter on the teletext page. When one of the colored remote control buttons is depressed, the corresponding colored link on the teletext page is viewable by the user, thereby providing quick access to a linked page in the teletext system. For example, a teletext page relating to football might have red=next story, green=tables, yellow=sport, blue=results. Rather than having to keep going back to a menu page to select a new page for viewing, the user can press one of the colored buttons to access the page directly from the page they are viewing.
The coloured coded links and keys are specified by the service provider (such as BBC, SKY, ITV and/or the like) and the colour coded buttons merely provide a way in which the user can follow the most likely taken path to the next teletext page. As such, the links to which the colour coded buttons relate cannot be changed once specified by the service provider, only allow a maximum of four possible links and do not interact with the page. The conventional teletext rapid selection means is therefore of only limited use.
The aim of the present invention is to provide a web browser system having means for selection of web page links or user selectable options in addition to, or as an alternative to a conventional highlighting system and which overcomes the abovementioned problems.